Story
Campaign 1, Session 1 A gnome named Blokus assembled 14 individuals together for the first flight of his new invention, a steam-powered airship held aloft by a balloon. The individuals hailed from most of the 9 major cities, with most coming from La Palais D'ivoire and Schwarze Felsen, although some of the cities were not represented. The primary goal of the trip was to showcase the new technology and potentially sell it to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, disaster struck the ship. In mid-flight, a titanic copper object fell from the sky and cleanly sliced the ship in two. The alchemical engine exploded, causing a fire. The spearhead-shaped object and the ship wreckage crashed into the desert of Invio. Blokus teleported away before the impact. Besides the gnome, only five individuals survived the crash: a human bard named Alexandre, a tiefling barbarian named Askatla, an aasimar cleric named Illyia, a tiefling alchemist named Proteus, and a human cavalier named Naomi. Inspection of the large object revealed it to be a copper-colored metal that was extremely hard and smooth. The object seemed to be machined in some way, but no magic or seams were detected. The group recovered several objects, including a ship's manifest of passengers. The group eventually met with a white-colored gazette named Bonnibel. Bonnibel apparently had the ability to freeze anything she touched. Bonnibel was not very good at socializing with strangers due to her isolation in the desert. Although she allowed the group to stay overnight in her hut, she asked them to leave the next morning. The trek across the desert was approximately a week of walking. The group of five eventually encountered a broken-down wagon that had been attacked by kobolds sometime in the previous couple days. The group found and took with them a human slave girl, Diana, who had been hiding under the wagon's canopy. With the girl in tow, they proceeded to the nearest town, eventually arriving in Lama Fuoco. The party arrived to see black kobolds attacking the town. The town had time to erect palisade walls to fend off attacks, although corpses of numerous kobolds and others (likely citizens or defenders of Lama Fuoco) were littered around the battlefield. During combat, several kobolds and even a dire boar were defeated. A kitsune named Nero aided the group. After the fight, it was revealed that Nero was the brother of one of the passengers that died on the airship. Nero departed to hold a meeting with a local group known as the Cerchio, after asking Illyia to assist with last rites and to help those who were wounded. While waiting for a response from Nero, the group dealt with an orc who tried to take the slave, Diana. Alexandre managed to convince the orc that he was in charge of Diana and forced him to leave empty-handed. The next day, Nero reported that Cerchio decided that the airship destruction and the kobold attack must be linked in some way due to the timing. The group would stay and defend the city and investigate. Nero copied a list of the ship's manifest and got directions to the object in the desert. The group then booked passage on a trade ship headed to La Palais D'ivoire at 50g a piece. Askatla briefly intervened in an argument between a pirate and a half-elf bard near the docks, but left them alone after finding out that the bard owed the pirate money. The bard later died of "natural causes." Campaign 1, Session 2 The small group of 6 set out for La Palais on a trade vessel run by a tiefling captain named Faron. The group was allowed passage since the ship was making a delivery to [Felsen and La Palais D'ivoire would be on the way. A few days into the week-long trip, the ship was attacked in the middle of the night by pirates. The pirates killed a few crew members and lit the ship on fire. After a long and difficult fight, the group managed to tie up several of the pirates for questioning. In checking the ship's cargo and crew, the group found a metal ore made of the same material as the large object that fell out of the sky, and a strange purple gemstone with magical properties. The pirates were apparently seeking the gemstone, and were part of the Ojing-eo pirate fleet. Askatla ended up throwing all the pirates overboard while they were still tied up. The group returned to La Palais where Captain Naomi returned to her duties and Diana was taken to the church to become an acolyte. Illyia was also greeted by her unhappy sister who confronted her about giving their family a bad name, and revealed that Illyia was in consideration for succession to the throne. The party was greeted by Laetitia who debriefed the group and explained that the city was recently attacked by black kobolds. Laetitia elaborated on the current political stage, with representatives from different cities trying to find the culprit that caused the crash, with several cities blaming one another. The prime suspect at this point in time was Blokus, who hailed from Schwarze Felsen, since he built the ship and went missing during the crash. The now group of 4 made a trip to Schwarze Felsen, only to find out that the city had also been attacked by black kobolds. Proteus, having lived in Schwarze Felsen before, was able to gain the party access to the city. Having worked with Blokus before, Proteus directed the party to one of Blokus' labs. Disarming traps and searching the lab for secret doors, the group found a book written in an ancient language, Primordial. They also found a familiar, a parrot named Lory, who belonged to Blokus and was annoyed at being abandoned by Blokus. The party took Lory with them and left for another lab East of the city. At the second lab, beyond another trap, the group found a second book written in Primordial, as well as a lockbox that had some of the copper metal ore inside it. The party also found a few magic items strewn about the building. The group then followed Lory's direction to find a third, more secluded lab, at which they finally located Blokus. Blokus indicated he had nothing to do with the crash and was merely hiding out for his own safety. In proximity to Blokus, the gemstone started to glow, but he could not explain the phenomenon. He did suggest someone who might know more about the gemstone and the metal, a suli named Bakji that lives in La Palais and serves as a researcher. After Blokus teleported the group back to the gates of La Palais, the party met with Bakji and learned that the metal is called orichalcum and the gemstone is called quetzocite. Bakji knew how to translate bits of the Primordial language and was able to explain that the quetzocite is an incredibly powerful magic stone that is in some way related to the ancient gods of Monde. He suggested that the group further their research in the places where he found the books himself: either in the Northern Ruins on Alela, or at the Eilift Library, somewhere in the North near Kalt. Campaign 1, Session 3 The group spent two days in La Palais D'ivoire to research the Primordial language and to craft improvements to their equipment. Afterward, Laetitia presented the party with 100 mithral pieces (10,000gp) as a reward for bringing Blokus back to La Palais. She also presented Illyia with a crude map of the locations they would be visiting. After being arranged transport by Laetitia, the group set off for Seaside Town to begin their journey. A short stop in the city allowed them to buy a more appropriate map for the area. Heading North from the city, the party aimed to stop at the nearest lake to stay overnight on the first leg of their trip toward the Northern Ruins. However, on the way the group came across a small house where a woman was being attacked by a steam-powered metallic golem. After a short fight, the golem was destroyed. The group went to assist the woman, only to find out another golem took her husband. Setting off in the direction of travel, the group came across a spellcaster standing on top of a rickety house, brandishing a gemstone in one hand and apparently controlling the actions of more golems. Askatla managed to sunder the building and knock the spellcaster from the roof, killing him and taking the stone. The golems stopped functioning as soon as the stone rolled out of his hand. The gold stone turned out to be a second piece of quetzocite, which Proteus was able to successfully identify and even utilize, since it was apparently attuned to him in some way. After staying a night with the couple at their house, the group continued North to the ruins. They found two cavities to explore under the collapsed rock and stone. The first cavity opened into a large section of a room littered in bones and long-dried blood. Though the room seemed empty, there was one chest on the far side of the room that Proteus managed to unlock to reveal a third quetzocite stone. While the yellow stone was not attuned to any of the party members, it appeared to be surrounded with a negative energy. Trying to take the stone resulted in a titanic creature bursting up from underneath the ground. The monster was a massive five-headed composite of conjoined and rotting flesh, resulting in the horrific reveal that undead creatures still exist in the world. Alexandre managed to flee from the creature, but not without significant injury. The monster was able to cast various spells and attack the party for a short time before Askatla dealt the finishing blow and killed it The party soon returned to Seaside Town to try and book passage to Kalt for their next stop. While the party intended only a quick stay to inquire about the location of the Eilift Library, they uncovered details that there was a new shaman, Parjol, seeing over the people and forcing his power over them through fear. Askatla realized that the "appointment" of this new shaman was against the customs of the village and set out to find this person and confront him. Parjol was not far from the village. Upon seeing him, Askatla was able to witness that the tiefling was being physically tortured by spirits and being pulled down by them. A brief exchange revealed Parjol to be Askatla's son, but she didn't listen to much of his speech before attacking him. Using the power of a quetzocite stone, Parjol's body erupted in a red energy. His skin turned white and began to crack to reveal underlying energy. In a fit of rage he attacked the group. He managed to suppress Illyia's healing abilities and even knock her unconscious before Alexandre landed a blow that finished off Parjol. He collapsed into a pile of fine dust. Before dying, he apologized to Askatla and was overtaken by an otherworldly voice that vibrated in everyone's heads to say, "Weak, pathetic creatures. This body is no longer suited to our needs." The group gathered up the new stone, this one sky blue. Askatla took Parjol's sword and returned to the village, meeting another tiefling, Yulia, who turned out to be her daughter. Askatla gathered all of the beresaad and told them that there would be no more shamans until the village could be returned to order. She cast out the traitorous individuals and returned the villagers to normality. Campaign 1, Session 4 After having time to rest, the group reconvened, ready to continue their trip to the Eilift Library. Askatla secured a map and the four purchased heavy winter gear for the trek ahead of them. Askatla also asked Illyia to craft a magic item for her with the spell Sending on it, to give to another individual. After securing passage with a local fisherman to take them to the continent of Vendal, the group set out to trek through the biting cold and snow. The trip through the snow took four days of travel, and the entrance was difficult to pinpoint. Once inside, the overwhelming darkness was difficult to navigate. The group first encountered a locked door which Proteus worked to pick. Behind the door the party faced large mole-like creatures that were capable of phasing through armor, who attacked Illyia and Askatla. However, the monsters proved to not be too much of a threat and were easily defeated. Inside the opened room, the group found a small blue magical cube. The cube seemed booby-trapped at first, requiring Proteus to disarm it before he could attempt to use it. Activating the cube resulted in it speaking in a strange and exotic language that even a comprehend languages spell couldn't understand. However, the voice changed to speaking in an understandable language. The cube had only vague details to offer, but indicated that it was created by a race called "ocari" and that the planet was reading an extremely high level of magic that would build up to cause a worldwide implosion. Though the cube did not have extended details, it suggested that "the source" created a barrier around the planet that needed to be destroyed in order for the magical pressure to stop being a danger. After unlocking the rest of the doors, the group headed North and encountered a strange snake with feathered wings. While the party attempted to have Alexandre sneak up to the sleeping monster and kill it, the creature disappeared and began to speak in celestial. The snake introduced itself as Shuthal, and explained that it was the guardian of the library and the knowledge within. Shuthal showed the group a tribute to the gods, noting its overall lack of information on the goddess Dayanara. Shuthal explained that the goddess was some sort of imposter and most likely an ocari. Shuthal also explained that the gemstones the group gathered are artifacts of the gods, and supposedly trophies of their trip to find the source of magic. With Shuthal's help, the party secured several books. One on magic, backing up the claim of magic growing too strong, though it also claimed that some sort of titanic world-devouring creature would be the end of the planet. The second book explained a lot about orichalcum and more complicated technology and ships, including one that looked like the shard of orichalcum that crashed into the airship. The third book detailed tieflings and their demonic heritage, claiming that they originated from some far-off plane. They also retrieved a broken sword that was supposedly owned by the deity Roderick, who broke it while fighting a giant monster. Once everyone was ready to leave, the group set back out into the snow to the coast to meet back up with the boat. Unfortunately, the fisherman had been intercepted by a ship full of pirates. Though the pirates demanded to have the stone they had been seeking, the discussion resulted in a fight. The group fought bravely, but were eventually overwhelmed by pirates, knocked unconscious, and taken captive. Campaign 1, Session 5 The group woke up on a pirate ship, being carted across the ocean and tied to the mast with most of their equpiment piled on the rear of the ship. The pirate captain attempted to interrogate Illyia and Proteus on the nature of the stones. The captain indicated that their leader only wanted one stone, and was not aware of the extras. During the discussion, Askatla had her familiar retrieve a bomb for Proteus. While the group was attempting to make an escape and obtain more information from the captain, two of the pirates managed to get ahold of the blue cube and tried to use it. Proteus was able to realize it was starting to tick as if ready to explode, and while he made an attempt to convince the pirates to stop using it, it activated. The cube caused a vortex implosion that consumed half the ship and apparently destroyed most of the crew. In the chaos, Proteus managed to destroy the rope with a bomb and the group quickly regained their treasure and defeat the remaining pirates. With the ship sinking into the ocean, the group gathered enough floating wood to form a raft and navigated to shore. Soon, the party found themselves on the continent of Invio, trekking into the desert. The group opted to drop in on Bonnibel to see if she had any news. The anti-social gazette gave them some information on an individual coming through to inspect the copper object in the desert (which the party now believed to be a ship of some kind), but had no additional information to share. In attempting to re-visit the metal ship, the group was ambushed by some manner of giant monster, digging up from underground. The monster was huge in size, covered in armored plates and apparently undead. Most notably the creature was stabbed through with numerous swords, spears, and other weapons. The creature spoke with the voice of the necromancer, claiming that the beast had defeated a god in combat and that the party would do no better. However, the monster ended up slain, but not before cursing Illyia with an effect that lasted two days. After recovering from the curse, the group went underground in order to investigate the origins of the creature. What the party found was a vast underground series of tunnels, some areas reaching as high as 50 feet. Proteus managed to deduce that the undead were coming from the North, and Alexandre and Illyia concluded the most strategically advantageous location for a base to be, locating the source of the undead. After fighting through a small army of skeletons, the group entered the carved-out base. Disarming several traps and finding a few useful bits of treasure, the group finally confronted the necromancer. She claimed that the group was inadvertently aiding the ocari and explained that they were creatures from beyond the planet of Monde. She also claimed that they had stood in the way of her own goal which was to destroy the planet. After an exhausting fight which drained the party of almost all its resources, the necromancer finally fell. She was slain completely by Askatla, but not before revealing that the ocari were marching on the city of Kalt and planning to raze the village to the ground in order to find stones. Campaign 1, Session 6 After taking the time to rest after defeating the necromancer, the party regrouped and began a trek toward Kalt. The group began by contacting Nero in Lama Fuoco and requesting a ship be prepared to send them to the icy city. Nero also advised the group that he was sending a representative of the Cerchio to meet with them in Kalt. The party briefly stopped by the metal ship wedged in the desert and consulted a book to figure out how to access the ship, only to learn that the intended means of boarding is teleportation. After a quick trip back to Lama Fuoco, the group learned that no additional attacks have taken place on the city, but the guard is being kept up to ensure no further harm is done. The party briefly explained to Nero that the necromancer is/was still around and they killed her. Nero raised the question stating she may not be the real necromancer or something else may be in motion. The group quickly made way to Kalt, arriving just in time after having alerted Yulia of the danger by using sending. A small army of kobolds closed in on the village, headed by a huge red dragon. Yulia attempted to cast a spell to shield the city, asking to be protected for the duration. With the addition of the Cerchio representative (a female wyvaran named Tanith), the kobolds and dragon were defeated and the village saved. After Tanith expressed her desire to travel with the group and uncover the situation with the kobolds, Askatla decided to stay in Kalt and protect her home. After finding a ship to travel back to La Palais so that Illyia could check in with Laetitia, the party found themselves on Redema, traveling a few days walk across the continent to get to the city. During the night, Illyia noticed a catfolk attempting to go through the group's belongings to find food. After waking the others and securing him, the party found he was an escaped slave trying to find food. Proteus gave him a small amount of money and Tanith pledged to track down the slavers and resolve the situation. Following the caravan led the group to a small village. On arriving in the village, the group found a pack of orc slavers (and a troll bodyguard) unloading cargo and slaves to drop off. Ambushing the orcs resulted in the leader having his hand cut off by Alexandre. Upon defeating the orcs and freeing the slaves, Tanith marched to find the leader of the village and threaten him with punishment if he attempts to own slaves ever again. Proteus made an arrangement with the man to continue the village's mining operation using paid workers. After a few more days of travel to return to La Palais, Illyia met up with her sister Vaisha, who was more friendly to Illyia this time around. She gave Illyia advice about needing to see the queen, and took the small group to meet her. The queen initially asked for information regarding the kobolds and the group's quest so far, but ended up asking for the stones the party had with them. After being refused, the queen revealed herself to be possessed by an ocari, attacking the party with Laetitia and the general, Vivian, under her control. Defeating the queen resulted in her death, presumably having her life force drained by the stone. In the ensuing chaos, Laetitia and Vivian were freed from control and Laetitia fled the throne room due to the stress of the situation. The party had little time to reflect on the situation however, as soon it was revealed that an army of tens of thousands of kobolds, wyvarans, orcs, and goblins had assembled outside the city to lay siege to it. In the crowded army also laid a colossal black dragon, easily 30 feet from one end to the other. Campaign 1, Session 7 After one week of the siege of La Palais, the small group checked in with Laetitia to exchange information and get a progress report. Laetitia indicated that the siege was making extremely slow progress, as the city itself is difficult to breach and full of clerics. In the days since Juliette died, Laetitia had been elected as the queen by the council members of La Palais, and it was decided that the death of Juliette would be kept quiet for the duration of the siege. Laetitia informed the party that there had been attempts to resurrect Juliette, but they were unsuccessful. During the time the group had to spend, the four sought out a blacksmith who would be able to reforge the sword they had found which was a relic of Roderick. The blade was found to be made of some extremely strong metal, but the party offered up a sample of orichalcum and explained how to shape and work it. The smith agreed to reforge the sword using the material for a cost of 3000g, taking a week to do the work. Laetitia asked the party to check in on another small group that were sent to spy on the kobold and orc army. For the favor, she would pay half the cost of reforging the Roderick sword. The group set out to find the lost party, only to be ambushed by a band of kobolds and orcs being led by a tough wyvaran that fell to Tanith's righteous smite. Afterward, the small group was rescued from being taken hostage. While they had not found much information, they had confirmed that the black dragon leading the army was the leader of Schaal Vuur, Emerens. They also confirmed that the orcs had yet to send their "a-team." After returning to the city, Laetitia indicated that she would like to have more assistance defending the city, but also acknowledged that the group needed to continue their current quest due to the apparent danger. She suggested three different routes: 1) Set out to find the source of magic in order to learn more about the gods and the barrier around the planet, 2) Try to convince Schwarze Felsen to assist La Palais against the army, or 3) Head to the ship in the desert to try and learn how it works. The group considered leaving for Schwarze Felsen, but since the travel time would be about the same, decided on the desert instead. The group recruited Blokus to assist, having known that teleportation was the key to entering the ship. Using Blokus to cross into the desert outside of the ship, the group settled down to camp and prepare to enter the ship. Proteus spent some time sketching out a map of the ship in order to have Blokus teleport everyone inside. Upon entering the ship, the group found several skeletons of what could be identified as unusual aberrations. Illyia determined that they must have died in the crash. Proteus took a sample as well as a sample of the strange mushrooms growing on them. Checking the ship for traps yielded no results, and each of the doors was opened to show the overall design of the ship closely matching the one from Proteus' book. The group uncovered the ship's magic core, realizing quickly that casting spells into it recharged it. After casting a handful of spells into the core, the ship turned on. Proteus attempted to interact with the ship only to find it was designed to respond in a different language. Using the blue cube to translate, the group interacted with the ship and restored the core to full charge and tried to learn how to control the ship's engines and weapons. After deciding that Illyia and Tanith could both pilot, and Proteus and Alexandre could control the guns, the group attempted to fly the ship toward La Palais. With two on the guns, Blokus and Illyia and occasionally Alexandre recharging the core, and Tanith and Ilyia taking turns piloting, the group engaged Emerens in the field and began attacking with the ship's cannons. The colossal dragon took to the sky, charging the ship and biting into the hull. Through the course of the fight, the ship took heavy hull damage from an acid breath attack, and several systems were damaged including communications and one of the weapons. In the end, the group backed the ship out of the planet's orbit, forcing the dragon to stop giving chase and falling back toward the planet. The group gave chase, leading him out over the ocean and finally shooting him down. Pushing the corpse to shore, the five unloaded and retrieved a stone from Emerens, which shined in response to Alexandre and was identified as adding to Intelligence and Spellcraft. The group then returned to the city, making a grand entrance by landing the ship in the castle courtyard. Campaign 1, Session 8 After some rest in La Palais, the group decided to take time to resettle themselves before continuing their next task. The group spent some time in the city attending an auction to sell off some of their more valuable wares, and finding more potent magic items and equipment to improve their combat abilities. Afterward, the crew decided to re-board their ship, the Daedalus, and set out to find the source of magic. Some research indicated that the best place to look would be underground, close to where they previously encountered the necromancer. Flying across the world to the site of the crash, the crew unloaded and descended into the depths. Heading East, the party encountered a fortified gate and had a brief exchange with some kobolds. Eventually, the party managed to convince the kobolds to sell them a map and allow them passage through to the other side. After examining the map, the group decided to trek down toward the apparent Drow city of Terre Noire. Although unable to gain access, the group did get enough information to send them back toward a section of underground that seemed suspiciously marked on the map. Upon arriving, the group made their way through tunnels and passages until they found themselves in an area with a small amount of water. Hearing an evil laughing sound, most of the party found themselves frightened and attempted to flee the area. The group was met by a geist, an incorporeal undead creature that assaulted the party until Alexandre produced his scimitar that shined like sunlight. Other geists appeared to attack the party, but were unable to advance into the range of the sunlight effect, and were easily slain. Afterward, the party found themselves face to face with a huge translucent ooze creature, which attacked with a painful disintegration touch, although it too was slain after some effort, although Proteus had trouble damaging it. Using a water-breathing wand, the group descended deeper into the cavern, swimming down into an underground lake until finding an unusual artifact. With inspection, Alexandre determined it to be a force field generator, and the source of the barrier around the planet holding in all the magic. Illyia communed with powerful entities to find out if the group should tamper with the orb, and ultimately decided not to interfere, and to return to the Eilift library to do more research. After landing and before reaching the library, the group was beset by a dark storm. Clouds spun around and soon the four were consumed by a vortex, pushing them into the sky. Proteus awoke first in a daze, finding the party strewn about with small velociraptors inspecting everyone. Distracting them with jerky, he woke the rest of the group and everyone set out to find where they had landed. Although the group originally assumed they had been thrown back in time, a brief meeting with a fey named Nannai revealed that they were in fact in the first world. Nannai walked the group back to the research facility and library, sharing the same name as the library on Monde, Eilift. There the group studied a few books and found more information on orichalcum, a map of the world (the planet in the first world being called Navijo), and a book on demons that further explained their relationship with ocari -- the ocari drove the demons to this plane eons ago. Before finding out much more, a horn blew, signaling the return of a fleet of pirate ships. Nannai seemed happy to greet them, so the group went outside where they encountered the friendly pirates, as well as a huge monstrocity of a demon named Dagon, who offered tea and helped Proteus unlock some of his untapped demonic blood. After telling more information about the ocari from personal experience, Dagon suggested the group interact with the clairvoyance pool inside Eilift to learn more information.